Odinkalu: Magu lied! Ikoyi whistleblower has been detained by three agencies

Chidi Odinkalu, human rights lawyer, has dismissed the claim of Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), that the man who gave the anti-graft agency information about the monies stashed in an apartment at Ikoyi, Lagos, is now a millionaire.

Magu said this on Thursday while speaking at a programme in Vienna, Austria.

“We are currently working on the young man because this is just a man who has not seen one million naira of his own before,” he had said.

“So, he is under counselling on how to make good use of the money and also the security implication.

“We don’t want anything bad to happen to him after taking delivery of his entitlement. He is a national pride.”

Under the whistleblower policy, the individual who gives information is entitled to between 2.5 percent and 5 percent of the recovered loot.

But reacting to Magu’s claim on Friday, Odinkalu said the unidentified individual had been detained in three different places.

The lawyer said the whistleblower’s life could be in danger.

“The claim by @officialEFCC chair, Magu that Ikoyi Billions #Whistleblower “is now a millionaire” is verifiably false,” he wrote on Twitter.

“It’s also false that @officialEFCC has bn working with Ikoyi Whistleblower. Instead, he’s suffered serial detention in 3 difft institutions.

“I know the Ikoyi Billions Whistleblower &  can confirm that he’s been despicably treated; his life cld be n danger.”

The claim by @officialEFCC chair, Magu that Ikoyi Billions #Whistleblower “is now a millionaire” is verifiably false https://t.co/D8aXK7haoT

— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) November 10, 2017

I know the Ikoyi Billions Whistleblower & can confirm that he’s been despicably treated; his life cld be n danger https://t.co/D8aXK7haoT

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— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) November 10, 2017

It’s also false that @officialEFCC has bn working with Ikoyi Whistleblower. Instead, he’s suffered serial detention in 3 difft institutions

— Chidi Odinkalu (@ChidiOdinkalu) November 10, 2017

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Wilson Uwujaren, spokesman of the commission, who issued the statement where Magu made the claim, could not be reached for comments as he neither answered his calls nor responded to a text message sent to his telephone line.